Latch operating unit



Oct. 18, 1955 E. TEICH ET AL LATCH OPERATING UNIT Filed Feb. 20,

INVENTOR. EPA/5.97' 727cv/ United States Patent LATCH OPERATING UNIT Ernest L. Teich and Irving J. Fletcher, New Britain,

Conn., assignors to The American Hardware Corporation, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application February 20, 1951, Serial No. 211,940

6 Claims. (Cl. 292-3363) This invention relates particularly to latch operating unit of the cylindrical type, and the present application is a continuation-in-part of our co-pending application Serial No. 211,939 led February 20, 1951, now Patent No. 2,701,160, issued February 1, 1955.

lt is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved construction for the latch operating unit and for the retractor therein which is operated by the inner and outer knobs of the unit.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a sectional plan View of our improved unit with parts thereof being shown in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a sectional end view of said unit on line 2 2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the case with the retracting mechanism being shown in vertical section on line 3--3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a sectional side view of the unit on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the sub-frame used in our improved unit.

Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the retractor unit.

As illustrated in the drawings, our improved unit includes generally a case 5, an inner operating knob 6, and an outer operating knob 7.

The case 5 is cup-shaped, preferably constructed of sheet metal and has a bottom wall 10 at the outer end thereof. A tubular outer sleeve 11 is rigidly secured to the said bottom wall 10 and a similar inner sleeve 12 is rigidly secured to the cover plate 13 which fits within the open end of the case 5.

Within the said case 5, there is provided a sub-frame 14 which has side amis 15-15 with outwardly extending perpendicular projections 16-16 that t Within the notches 17-17 in the case 5 to retain the sub-frame in position. Each of said side arms also has laterally extending inwardly bent projections 18-18 having openings therein which receive a bar 19 that secures a retractor guide bar 26 to the said projections 18-18 and also retains a retractor spring 21 in position.

'lhe retractor is constructed of a U-shaped member 22 having inwardly bent prongs 23, that are adapted to re ceive the dove-tailed portion at the end of a connecting link of a conventional latch, not shown, which is operated by the said retractor. This U-shaped member 22 slidably ts between the guide bars -20 and has secured thereto, at opposite sides thereof, plates 24-24 which are provided at their opposite sides with projections 25-25 that are engaged by the operating ends of the roll-back plates 26-26. Each of said roll-back plates is provided with a shank 27 which lits Within opposed notches 28 in annular connectors 29 that are rotatably mounted Within the enlarged end portions 29-a of the bores of the sleeves 11 and 12. These connectors are positioned by the shoulders in the interior of the said bore and the side plates 24-24 of the retractor. The shanks 27 have enlarged 2,721,095 Patented Oct. 18, 1955 rice portions 30 which tit within the bores of the connectors and thereby retain the roll-backs thereon.

The retractor plates 24 are provided with inwardly bent tabs 24-a which are disposed at opposite sides of the bars 19 and are in abutment with the movable ends of the springs 21 so as to normally bias the said retractor outwardly into its normal position, as illustrated in Fig. 3. When either of the knobs 6 or 7 is rotated, it will rotate its respective connector 29 which will in turn rotate its respective roll-back 26 and thereby urge the retractor rearwardly into the case 5 and operate the latch. When the knob is released, the springs 21 will force the retractor outwardly and also return the roll-back and the knob to their normal position.

The outer knob 7 has a shank 31 which is rotatable within the sleeve 11 and is provided with prongs 32 that extend into corresponding notches in the respective connector 29 for rotating it upon the operation of the knob 7 to thereby cause retraction of the retractor and operation of the latch.

The inner knob 6 has a shank 33 which is rotatable within the sleeve 12 and the said shank has prongs 34 that extend into corresponding notches in the respective connector 29 so as to cause rotation of said connector upon rotation of the knob 6 for the operation of the respective roll-back 26.

It will be noted that the cover plate 13 has lateral ex tensions 35-35 which tit within the notches 17 and over the projections 16 of the sub-frame and thereby retain the said sub-frame in position. The cover plate is secured to the case by means of screws 36-36 which extend through the projections 35 and 16, and through the case 5 and the bottom 10 thereof, and are threaded to thickened portions 37-37 of the securing bar 38 which extends through a slot 39 in the outer sleeve 11 and into an annular groove 40 in the shank 31 so as to rotatably secure the said shank to the sleeve 11 and thereby secure the outer knob in operative position. The shank 33 of the inner knob is similarly rotatably secured to the inner sleeve 12 by means of the inner securing bar 41 which extends through a slot 42 in said inner sleeve and into the annular groove 43 in the shank 33.

The said inner securing bar has side prongs 44--44 at the opposite ends thereof which straddle the sleeve 12 to slidably retain the said bar within the slot 42. At the upper portion of the bar there is provided an offset prong 45 which is slidable within a notch 46 in the cover 13 and receives coils 47 of a spring member that is anchored upon the cover 13 and normally urges the securing bar 41 into securing position within the annular groove 43.

lt will be noted that, in our improved construction above described, the knobs 6 and 7 may be readily detached from the unit by simply moving the securing members 3S and 41 to disengage the knob Shanks and permit them to be withdrawn from the sleeves 11 and 12. Therefore, when it is desired to assemble the unit to a door by inserting the case 5 into an opening provided for it in said door, the knob 6 is readily removed by simply raising the securing member 41 against the tension of the coils 47 and puiling the shank 33 out of the sleeve 12. This will leave the respective connector 29, and the roll-back 26 which is supported thereby, in their normal positions in the unit and thus avoid disturbance of the mechanism when the knobs are detached therefrom. The Said connectors and their cooperating parts are therefore of particular importance in providing the advantages which are derived from our improved lock.

The particular construction of the sub-frame 14, the side arms 15 and the inwardly extending projections iii-18, which permit the accommodation of the springs 21 and the guide bars l'-Z also provide a decided advantage in our improved construction wherein they permit thel retractor to travel for a greater distance with- Y in the case 5, than has heretofore been possible with other known constructions, and thereby permit the use of a highly desirable longer'latch. Y

rvThe improved construction of our retractor, as shown in Fig, 6, is of added importance since it provides a simple retractor unit of maximum strength and durability that may be economically constructed fromv sheet metal and thereby particularly adapted for volume production.

l. A latch operating unit comprising a case, a subframe in said case, a pair of spaced guide members carried on said sub-frame, a retractor slidably mounted between` said guide members, the said retractor including a U-shaped member fitting between the guide members, outer plates secured to the opposite sides of said U-shaped member and overlapping the Vguide members, spring means urging said retractor outwardly in said case, projections on at least one of said plates extending outwardly of the retractor, a roll-back adjacent said plate and engageable with the projections thereon for operating the retractor, a knob, and a shank on said knob yconnected with the said roll-back for moving the same to operate the retractor.

2. A latch operating unit comprising a case having a bottom wall, a sleeve projecting outwardly from said bottomV wall, a sub-frame mounted within said Vcase and including a base portion positioned against the said bottom wall, spaced parallel arms extending outwardly from opposite sides ofk said base portion, projections at opposite sides of each of said arms extending inwardly therefrom and Vperpendicularly thereto, a U-shaped guide member having parallel leg portions tting over the said projections on each of said arms, a bar extending parallel to said guide member through each of said leg portions and projections, a retractor slidably mounted on said sub-frame between said guide members, spring means between each of said guide members and its respective arm normally urging the retractor outwardly within the case, a roll-back for operating said retractor, and a knob having a shank rotatably mounted in the sleeve for actuating the saidrollback.

3. Alatch operating unit comprising a case having an end wall, a sleeve extending from said end wall, a subframe mounted within said case and including a base portion fitting against the said bottom wall, parallel spaced side arms extending from said base portion, upper and lower projections extending inwardly from said side arms, a guide member mounted on the projections of each side arm, a retractor slidably mounted between said guide members, the said retractor including an intermediate member, a side plate secured to each side of said intermediate member and overlapping the guide member, projections on said side plates extending inwardly therefrom between the side arms and the guide members thereon, spring means between said side arms and guide members bearing on said projections and normally urging the retractor outwardly in the case, outwardly extending projections on at least one ofesaid side plates, a roll-back engageable with said projections for moving the retractor against the tension of said spring means, a handle, a knob, and a shank on said knob connected with the roll-back for operating it.

4. A latch operating unit comprising a case having an annular wall and an end wall, a sleeve extending from said end wall, a sub-frame within said case including a base portion fitting against the end wall and parallel side arms extending perpendicularly from opposite sides of said base portion spaced guide members mounted on said side arms, a retractor slidablyl mounted on said Vsub-frame and between said guide members, a roll-back for moving said retractor, a knob rotatably carried by said sleeve for operating the roll-back; the said Vside arms having end portions extending perpendicularly therefrom and fitting within' notches in the edge of said annular wall for positioning the sub base in the case, and a cover tting over said case and retaining the subframe end portions in positionwithin said notches.

5; A rlatch operating unit comprising a case, spaced guide members in said case, a retractor slidably mounted between the inner sides of said guide members and having opposite side portions extending therebeyond to retain the retractor between said guide members, spring means disposed adjacent theA outer side of at least one of said guide members, projections extending from at least one of the side portions of the retractor into engagement with said spring means whereby said retractor is urged outwardly relatively to said case, and means for actuating said retractor against said spring means.

6. A Vlatch operating unit comprising a case, a subi'rame mounted Within said case and including parallel spaced arms having upperY and lower projections extending perpendicularly therefrom, a guide member mounted on the projections of each of said arms, a retractor slidably mounted between saidguide members and having side portions straddling the guide members to retain the retractor therebetween, spring means disposed between each of said guide membersk and its-respective arm of the sub-frame, projections on the side portions of said retractor extending between said guide members and said arms to provide abutments e'ngageable by said spring means to urge the retractor outwardly relatively to the case, and means carried by the case for actuating said retractor.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,876,885 k Ellingson Sept. 13, 1932 1,991,031 Schlage Feb. 12,1935 2,038,907 Schlage Apr. 28, 1936 2,076,125 Grimstrud Apr. 6, 1937 2,473,052 Cordrey et al. June 14, 1949 

